Lego The Hobbit - Xbox 360http://www.gameinformer.com/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/xbox360/atom.aspxCommunity Server2013-12-16T09:08:11ZThe Road Goes Ever On/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/xbox360/archive/2014/04/08/lego-the-hobbit-review-game-informer.aspx2014-04-08T13:00:00Z2014-04-08T13:00:00Z<p><img border="0" src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/warner-bros/travellerstales/legothehobbit/legohobbitreview610.jpg" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p>
<p>Certain elements always carry over between Lego games, regardless of the attached franchise. The series has found a winning combination of action, exploration, and puzzle-solving, so getting familiar experiences doesn&rsquo;t kill the fun. Some might say that Lego The Hobbit goes too far; several characters, locations, and concepts are recycled from 2012&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/themes/blogs/generic/post.aspx?WeblogApp=xbox360&amp;y=2012&amp;m=11&amp;d=20&amp;WeblogPostName=walking-into-mordor-with-a-smile&amp;GroupKeys=games/lego_lord_of_the_rings/">Lego Lord of the Rings</a>. However, that title wasn&rsquo;t just my favorite Lego entry &ndash; it was also my favorite game adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien&rsquo;s legendary universe. Instead of being outraged at the repurposed material, I am happy to have another reason to retread Middle-earth brick by brick. </p>
<p>The core elements of the Lego formula are all intact. Using a wide cast of Tolkien&rsquo;s characters, players smash and jump through stages based on the iconic settings from the films. I looked forward to seeing key moments represented in Lego form, and I wasn&rsquo;t disappointed. TT Games strikes the perfect balance between remaining faithful and injecting humor, whether you&rsquo;re watching two stone giants fight or sneaking around a dragon. </p>
<p>The action is not complex or challenging (apart from some occasionally spotty platforming), but it provides simple fun for solo players or co-op duos of all ages. Simple puzzles are scattered throughout, requiring you to use specific characters to overcome obstacles, like Gandalf blasting blue bricks with magic, or two hobbits using a buddy-up move to break barriers. Slightly more involved solutions are required if you&rsquo;re trying to collect every item and secret by replaying levels, but you can engage in that kind of post-game play as much or as little as you want. </p>
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<p>Like Lego LOTR, I had the most fun after the credits rolled. With the story missions complete, you have an entire world to explore. Unlock your favorite characters, earn cheats to amass a fortune in studs, and perform quests for Middle-earth citizens in need. The variety of activities is improved over the last installment, but still not ideal. Expect to fetch or craft a lot of items for people, though most of these objects are useful in your adventures, too.</p>
<p>The biggest step down in Lego The Hobbit is the addition of a more complicated &ndash; but not better &ndash; crafting system. As you smash objects, you collect new resources like gems, metals, and food. These are used for performing special builds in designated places and in crafting Mithril items (which no longer depends solely on collecting Mithril bricks). The problem is, if you run out of an item you need, you either have to hunt more down (which is tedious and time-consuming) or buy them at high prices (which is a hassle). Neither option is fun, and the whole process just puts up an unnecessary roadblock between you and the cool thing you want to do. I appreciate the desire to set Lego The Hobbit apart from it predecessor, but this &ldquo;innovation&rdquo; does more harm than good.</p>
<p>One of the strangest things regarding Lego The Hobbit isn&rsquo;t part of the game at all. Warner Bros. decided to release the game to coincide with the home video release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second movie in the series. That means the story doesn&rsquo;t actually conclude &ndash; it stops right where the second movie does, then drops you in the world for free play. As jarring as that may be, the gameplay doesn&rsquo;t suffer. With all of the side quests and collectibles, Lego The Hobbit is a complete and entertaining game. If you were counting on the Lego version of a movie adaptation of a 70-year-old book to deliver an unsullied narrative experience, you were expecting too much anyway.</p>
<p><i>This review pertains to the PS4 version of Lego The Hobbit. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment did not provide us with early copies of the game on other systems. Lego The Hobbit is also available on Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, and PC on April 8. A Wii U version will be available on April 22.</i></p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6743046" width="1" height="1">GIJoehttp://www.gameinformer.com/members/GIJoe/default.aspxSee Old And New Faces In Lego The Hobbit's Launch Trailer/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/xbox360/archive/2014/04/08/see-old-and-new-faces-in-lego-the-hobbit-39-s-launch-trailer.aspx2014-04-08T12:59:00Z2014-04-08T12:59:00Z<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/warner-bros/travellerstales/legothehobbit/hobbitlaunch610.jpg" border="0" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p>
<p>Today marks the release of Lego The Hobbit, and like <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/themes/blogs/generic/post.aspx?WeblogApp=xbox360&amp;y=2012&amp;m=11&amp;d=20&amp;WeblogPostName=walking-into-mordor-with-a-smile&amp;GroupKeys=games/lego_lord_of_the_rings/">Lego Lord of the Rings</a>, it&#39;s a fun adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s world. You can read our full review <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/playstation4/archive/2014/04/08/lego-the-hobbit-review-game-informer.aspx">here</a>, but if you just want a taste of what to expect, this video covers the basics. </p>
<p>You&#39;ll get a glimpse of important locations like Mirkwood and Goblin Town, as well some cool sequences like the barrel ride down the river. If you like what you see, or if you enjoyed Lego Lord of the Rings, you should definitely consider picking this one up.</p>
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<p>Lego The Hobbit is available today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Vita, 3DS, and PC. The Wii U version hits April 22.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6730173" width="1" height="1">GIJoehttp://www.gameinformer.com/members/GIJoe/default.aspxA Visit To Bag End And A Fight With The Goblin King/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/xbox360/archive/2014/02/25/a-visit-to-bag-end-and-a-fight-with-the-goblin-king.aspx2014-02-25T14:28:00Z2014-02-25T14:28:00Z<p><img style="max-width:610px;" border="0" src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/warner-bros/lego/hobbit/LegoHobbitAnnounce-610.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>After the success of Lego Lord of the Rings, it&rsquo;s no surprise that Warner Bros. and Tt Games are returning to Middle-earth. We had a chance to play two levels in Lego The Hobbit, showcasing two very different types of gameplay.</p>
<p>We began our journey in Bilbo Baggins&rsquo; home of Bag End. The unsuspecting hobbit is visited by the 13 dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield. This isn&rsquo;t a combat-focused stage, instead giving us an introduction to some of the abilities we&rsquo;ll be using throughout the Lego take on the first two films.</p>
<p>This Lego title introduces some new elements, including team-up attacks that can be activated when near another character and switching between different weapon sets. For instance, Kili is good with a bow, but also carries a weapon good for melee fighting.</p>
<p>Throughout the game, you&rsquo;ll need to collect loot, which is used for a building mini-game. This is a carry over from The Lego Movie game, and requires players to quickly choose the correct part from a wheel. The faster (and more accurate) you are, the more studs you&rsquo;ll earn. I found that having a recent working knowledge of Lego kits served me well in predicting what parts would be needed next.</p>
<p>This segment ends with the dwarves singing and juggling plates in a timed button press minigame. The adventure starts in a very lighthearted way, but once we moved over to the Goblintown level, it heated up quickly.</p>
<p>Unlike most Lego titles, which offer up only a few characters to rotate through in the story stages, Goblintown features the entire dwarf party and Gandalf. As we fought the Goblin King at the outset, we needed to switch to utilize the correct character ability at the right time. As is common in these games, the Goblin King fight is as much puzzle as it is combat.</p>
<p>After, our group was split into three. Each progressed independently, encountering many goblins (each taking multiple hits to defeat) and more light puzzles. This level, too, had a construction minigame, requiring us to offer up rope, stone, and other loot. These moments are largely in service of Lego building block fans, and I enjoyed them.</p>
<p>I don&rsquo;t expect that Lego The Hobbit will be a significant departure for the franchise, especially as it is largely tied to the first two films in the trilogy. It is, however, a way to occupy yourself if you need some Tolkein while you wait for Shadow of Mordor.&nbsp;</p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6604509" width="1" height="1">GIMikehttp://www.gameinformer.com/members/GIMike/default.aspxWarner Releases First Look At Lego The Hobbit In Action/games/lego_the_hobbit/b/xbox360/archive/2013/12/16/warner-releases-first-look-at-lego-the-hobbit-in-action.aspx2013-12-16T15:08:11Z2013-12-16T15:08:11Z<p><img src="http://media1.gameinformer.com/filestorage/CommunityServer.Components.SiteFiles/imagefeed/featured/warner-bros/lego/hobbit/legohobbit1216-610.jpg" border="0" style="max-width:610px;" alt="" /></p>
<p>Warner Interactive announced that Lego the Hobbit was in development <a title="late last month" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/11/25/warner-bros-and-tt-games-return-to-lego-middle-earth-with-the-hobbit.aspx">late last month</a>, and now they&#39;ve released a trailer packed with in-game footage. Check it out to see footage of trolls, goblins, orcs, and, of course, a few pigs.</p>
<p>Lego the Hobbit uses audio from Peter Jackson&#39;s films, including the voice acting from the films&#39; cast. They used the same technique to great effect in last year&#39;s <a title="Lego Lord of the Rings" href="http://www.gameinformer.com/games/lego_lord_of_the_rings/b/xbox360/archive/2012/11/20/walking-into-mordor-with-a-smile.aspx">Lego Lord of the Rings</a>. While The Hobbit will be a trilogy in theaters, however, the Lego game will only cover the events from the first two films, including the recently released <i>The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.</i></p>
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<p>Look for Lego the Hobbit on PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, 3DS, and Vita in 2014.&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.gameinformer.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=6470323" width="1" height="1">GIJeffhttp://www.gameinformer.com/members/GIJeff/default.aspx